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Appropriating Indo-Saracenic Style: Bhai Ram Singh's Contributions To Research papers | Artículos de investigación | Artigos científicos Shajeea Shuja, Rabela Junejo Appropriating Indo-Saracenic style: Bhai Ram Singh’s contributions to the architectural identity of 19th century Lahore Apropiación del estilo “indo-sarraceno”: La contribución de Bhai Ram Singh a la identidad arquitectónica del Lahore del siglo XIX Apropriação do estilo “indo-sarraceno”: Contribuições de Bhai Ram Singh para a identidade arquitectónica de Lahore do século XIX Keywords | Palabras clave | Palavras chave Colonial India, Jeypore Portfolio, Contextualization, Identity Politics, Revivalism India colonial, Jeypore Portfolio, Contextualización, Política identitaria, Revivalismo Índia Colonial, Jeypore Portfolio, Contextualização, Política de Identidade, Revivalismo Abstract | Resumen | Resumo After 1857, when India became a direct colony of the British Crown, was the architectural style adopted by the colonial masters an attempt at subverting the local identity and reasserting their supremacy via architecture or was its purpose to engage their institutions with their context? Was the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture anachronistic and reductive in nature or was it a way to draw on the past? What role did the Jeypore Portfolio play in negotiating colonial intent by appropriating traditional building culture? How did Bhai Ram Singh mediate an identity for 19th century Lahore by contextualizing Indo-Saracenic architecture? This exploratory study attempts to answer these questions using existing literary sources and by considering buildings designed by Bhai Ram Singh in the city of Lahore. The paper also critically evaluates the agency of the Jeypore Portfolio for Indo-Saracenic architecture, how it reduced the centuries-old local building tradition to a limited palette of details, and Bhai Ram Singh’s attempts to re-inform it from the native’s perspective. A partir de 1857, cuando la India se convirtió en una colonia sujeta al control directo de la corona británica, ¿fue el estilo arquitectónico adoptado por la potencia colonial un intento de subvertir la identidad local y reafirmar su supremacía a través de la arquitectura o era su propósito integrar sus instituciones en el contexto? ¿Tuvo el estilo “indo-sarraceno” una naturaleza arquitectónica anacrónica y reductora o se trataba de una forma de inspirarse en el pasado? ¿Qué papel desempeñó el Jeypore Portfolio en la negociación de las pretensiones coloniales mediante la apropiación de la cultura tradicional de construcción? ¿Cómo propició Bhai Ram Singh una identidad para el Lahore del siglo XIX al contextualizar la arquitectura “indo-sarracena”? Estas son las preguntas que dieron lugar a este estudio preliminar, en el que se utilizaron las fuentes literarias existentes y se analizaron los edificios proyectados por Bhai Ram Singh en - 357 - Journal of Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism - 1 - 2020 la ciudad de Lahore. En el artículo también se hace una valoración crítica de la intervención del Jeypore Portfolio en la arquitectura “indo-sarracena”: cómo redujo una tradición constructiva centenaria a una paleta limitada de detalles, y los intentos de Bhai Ram Singh para darle forma desde la perspectiva autóctona. Depois de 1857, quando a Índia se tornou uma colónia directa da Coroa Britânica, terá este estilo arquitectónico sido adoptado pelos mestres coloniais numa tentativa de subverter a identidade local e reafirmar a sua supremacia através da arquitectura, ou terá sido o seu propósito o de envolver as suas instituições no contexto? Será o estilo de arquitectura “indo- sarraceno” anacrónico e redutor por natureza ou foi uma forma de tirar partido do passado? Que papel desempenhou o Jeypore Portfolio na negociação da intenção colonial através da apropriação da cultura tradicional de construção? Como mediou Bhai Ram Singh uma identidade para Lahore do século XIX ao contextualizar a arquitectura “indo-sarracena”? Foram estas as questões que conduziram este estudo exploratório, utilizando as fontes literárias existentes, tendo em consideração edifícios concebidos por Bhai Ram Singh na cidade de Lahore. O artigo também avalia criticamente a acção do Jeypore Portfolio na arquitectura “indo-sarracena”, como este reduziu a tradição centenária de construção local a uma paleta limitada de detalhes, e as tentativas de Bhai Ram Singh de lhe dar uma nova forma a partir da perspectiva dos nativos. Introduction Research Methodology This paper investigates the links between “Indo-Saracenic” This paper adopts a purely qualitative approach to architecture and the ideology of “orientalism” as one of understand the colonial architectural history of Lahore the hegemonic cultural tools employed by the British and the works of Bhai Ram Singh, by reviewing the during their colonial rule in India. For this purpose, the existing literature. It contributes to the knowledge of his paper reviews the historical and contemporary literature work through first-hand on-site data collection on four to understand this aspect of European adventurism in of Bhai Ram Singh’s projects and the production of their India and of the emergence of the British as the sole respective drawings. The agency of theJeypore Portfolio for colonial power in the region. Unlike their contemporaries, Indo-Saracenic architecture and Bhai Ram Singh’s attempts the British used multiple “soft tools” to establish their to re-inform it from a native perspective are also critically rule in India. Among other administrative matters, the analysed and evaluated, as well as its subsequent impact on most significant hegemonic attempt to support their the architectural identity of Lahore. “civilizing” project was to introduce “Indo-Saracenic” architecture. This style, which for a time served as the official architecture of the Raj in India, was a fragmented British in India: A Brief History adoption of the native Indo-Islamic architecture. In the hands of Colonial designers, who depended on the The British, like the French, Dutch, and the Portuguese, Jeypore Portfolio, it often produced caricatural results. first came to what we now call the Indian subcontinent However, there are more successful examples too. Under for trading purposes and “obtained permission to trade in the aegis of individuals such as the native artisan Bhai Ram India from [the Mughal Emperor] Jahangir in 1619” (Bose Singh, who understood and respected the ordering and and Jalal 1998: 34). Gradually the East India Company proportioning system of traditional Indian architecture, started expanding its trading network, and the declining this style produced buildings that left an indelible mark on power of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century provided the architectural landscape of cities like Lahore. This paper the British officials with a perfect opportunity to establish discusses Bhai Ram Singh’s attempts at re-informing the their hold over the Indian Territory. After the 1757 military Indo-Saracenic from a native perspective. The pivotal role victory at the Battle of Plassey (Bose and Jalal 1998: 41), Bhai Ram Singh played in shaping 19th century Lahore’s the Company, by 1765, had gained a grant of the Diwani architectural identity is also discussed. (right to collect taxes) in three provinces (Hashmi and Shuja 2020: 32). - 358 - Research papers | Artículos de investigación | Artigos científicos Over the following century, the British emerged as the modern, and industrialized enterprise (Said 1978). sole territorial power in India, eventually establishing an During European colonization, there was a real urgency “elaborate state apparatus” (Bose and Jalal 1998: 53). The to understand the colonies in order to establish hegemony British had little or no information about the country over them (Porter 1994; Stone 1988). The same was the they were expanding their rule over (Metcalf 1994: 44). case with colonial hegemony over India, which, however, This lack of knowledge, coupled with a state apparatus was not a straightforward “enforcement”. implemented in India by the Company leadership, created widespread mistrust and discontent and led to the rebellion Post-1857 British Colonials, while establishing themselves of 1857 (Metcalf 1994; Metcalf and Metcalf 2006). As a in India, were also in the midst of legitimizing their control direct consequence, the Company was dissolved in 1858, over the Colony. Reflections of this legitimization or their and India became a direct Crown colony and thus began an “civilizing mission” were apparent in every sphere of their 89-year period (1858 - 1947) that came to be known as the rule, be it political, educational, linguistic or in the areas of British Raj (Fig. 1). art and culture (Hashmi 2020; Hashmi and Shuja 2020; Baucom 1999; Mann and Watt 2012; Metcalf and Metcalf 2006; Metcalf 1989; Metcalf 2005). Fig. 1. British In India Echoes of this hegemonic behavior reverberate, for example, in their linguistic policies. Muhammad Uzair Hashmi makes a strong case for the linguistic shift in his paper “Linguistic Colonization: A Comparison Between the British in India and the Soviets in Central Asia”, pointing out how the British employed “soft tools” instead of “coercion” to implement English as an official language The Reflection of Colonial Culture in India (Hashmi 2020: 225). Colonial rule in the “oriental” Indian subcontinent can The British “Orientalist” sociological construct of India, be read as a classic case of contestations, dialogues, as a land of timeless traditions where religion alone had appropriations, reconciliation,
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